Heddle for looms



March 1, 1932. R. e. TURNER 1,847,579,

HEDDLE FOR LOOKS Filed Nov. 14, 1930 cause tne heddle to become entangled with Patented Mar. 1, 1932 NI En STATES PATENT OFFICE RICHARD GREENLEAF,TUR1\TEB, OF WVORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGITOIR TO CROMPTON & KNOWLES LOOIVI WORKS, F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- PORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS nnnnnn FOR ooms Application filed November 14, 1930. Serial No. 495,700.

This invention relates to improvements in heddles for looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a heddle which will yield sufficiently to relieve temporary strains on individual warp threads as the warp is unwound.

In the weaving of certain classes of goods woven with relatively inelastic warp threads hr akages are likely to occur due to the fact that a small group of threads will become tighter than the remaining threads on the beam at certain stages of the weaving operation. The result of this unevenness of tension is to cause certain threads to be unduly stressed between the warp beam and the fell of the cloth. In the case of rayon and similar inelastic yarns this increased tension breaks either the entire yarn or certain filaments thereof. It is an important object of my C present invention to provide a heddle which shall be sufficiently stiff in its action to cause proper shedding of the warp, but which is also possessed with enough resilience to yield if the warp thread controlled thereby subjected to excessive temporary strains.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide a heddle having a durable eye for the warp threads and having the elastic portions thereof which may lie either on both or only one of the sides of the eye s fficiently elastic to permit the yielding mentioned. Where the eye is made of wire I find it convenient to embed the bent ends thereof.- in the rubber or similar material so that no pro- NS neighbors.

It is another object of my invention to provide a modified form of heddle consisting of a sheet of rubber having heddle e es mounted therein, the sheet preferably thoughnot necessarily being cut into strips so that there will be a narrow st ip for each eye, thereby permitting increased freedom of movement on the part of the eye.

lVith these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arra-ngement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

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In the accompanying drawings, wherein three forms of the invention are shown,

Fig. l is a section through the upper part of a loom showing the first form of my invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a harness such as that illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of a hede of the type shown in Fig. l,

Fi g. 4 is a modification wherein a heddle is made of resilient material,

5 is a front elevation of a portion of the harness frame with heddles made according to the second modification, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged end elevation of the second modification.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown a breast beam 10 supported by a loom frame 11 having a whip roll 12 over which the warp W passes. The warp beam 13 may supply warps of any kind, but in the looms in which this invention is particularly applicable the beam will have certain of its warp threads relatively inelastic, such as rayon. The harness frame H com prises upper and lower cross bars 14 and 1 5, respectively, and the heddle bars may be supported in end plates 18 or may be held to the frames 14 and 15 in any other approved man- Harness mechanism not shown may operate in the usual way to reciprocate the harness frames for the purpose of forming a shed from the warp threads.

The heddles whichform the subject matter of my invention are mounted between the heddle bars 16 and 17 and cooperate with the individual warps threads to lift or depress them according to the demands of the pattern being woven.

In the preferred form, as illustrated in Fig. 3,1 form the ends of the heddle with wire loops and 31, respectively, these loops having ends projected toward the center of the heddle and formed by twisting part of the wire on itself as indicated at 32. The eye 33 through which the warp eXtends may have oppositely extended twisted wire end portions 34. A molded elastic 35 made preferably of rubber lies between the eye and each loop; These elastics preferably have 'embedded in them the twisted wire ends so that a smooth surface will be presented by each heddle to its neighbors. I do not wish to be limited to the particular manner shown for embedding the ends of loops and eye 33 in the elastics. v

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 can be made from spring steel wire or other suitable material oossessin adequate resili ence, the opposite ends of the heddle being provided with loops l0 while the intermediate portion thereof has an eye il. Each loop may be connected to the eye by means of a sinuous length of resilient metal 42, the wavy form being for the purpose of permitting a certain degree of elongation when the eye is subjected to an abnormal strain. Under normal conditions, however, the portions 42 are under equal stresses with e eye ll located approximately midwa between the loops 40.

In the second modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the ieddles are formed from a sheet of rubber designated generally at This sheet may extend for the full width of the harness frame, or may be relatively narrow, and has upper and lower loops ortubes 51 which receive the bars 16 and 'l'Z. In its manufacture the sheet is actually made of two parts, one of which has embedded therein the twisted ends 52 lying on one side of a series of metallic eyes 53, while the other part has securely molded therein the other ends. These eyes may be supported with the planes of their loops perpendicular to the sheet so that a relatively large number of them can be held in place. The sheet may then be cut as at 54 to form individually movable portions 55. In this way, each heddle eye 53 is permitted a certain degree of movement independent of those lying on either side of it. If desired, the cuts may extend entirely across the sheet so as to form individual heddles.

In each of the three forms illustrated the resilient part of the heddle is of sufiicient stiffness to require the proper forming of the shed when the harness frames are separated. On the other hand each eye is sufficiently resilient so that if the warp thread controlled thereby is tight due to an uneven winding of the warp beam 13 it may be de pressed or raised, as the case may be, to reieve the abnormal tension and thereby prevent thread breakage. Experience has shown that the strains set up in a thread sufiicicnt to form an ordinary shed can be transmitted through a yielding element without requiring the latter to stretch to an objectionable degree, but that asufficient stress can be set up by the thread before breaking to effect considerable stretching of the elastic element. I

,From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple form of heddle wherein the eye is resiliently supported between twoelastic elements each of which is sufliciently strong to require proper shedding but yieldable to relieve abnormal strains in a warp thread. It will also be seen that the heddles are so formed that the connection between the resilient and nonresilient parts is smooth to prevent entanglement of heddles. Also, as shown in F ig.4, the resilience may be secured by the use of resilient metal shaped so as to yield, while the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 contemplate the production of a large number of heddles at a single operation.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. A metallic heddle having supporting loops and a thread receiving eye, the eye being attached to the loops by means of resilient portions of the heddle which are given a sinuous form to render them flexible.

2. In a harness frame having a pair of substantially parallel bars, a sheet of rubber extending between and secured to the bars, and a plurality of thread receiving eyes supported by the rubber at points intermediate the bars.

3. In a harness frame having a pair of substantially parallel bars, a sheet of rubber extending between and secured to the bars, and a plurality of thread receivin eyes supported by the rubber at points intermediate the bars, said sheet of rubber being split in a direction transverse of the bars to define individually movable resilient mountings for the eyes.

a. A warp controlling element for a loom comprising a sheet of rubber having embedded therein a plurality of thread receiving heddle eyes.

5. A warp controlling element for a loom comprising a sheet of rubber having embeddeed therein a plurality of thread receiving eyes, the sheet being cut into transversely extending strips, whereby the eyes are movable independently of each other.

6. In a loom having a sheet of warp threads, a harness frame movable through a given path of movement to form sheds in the warp, heddle eyes for the warp threads, and resilient mountings between the eyes and the harness frame, the eyes capable of yielding to accommodate excessive strains in the warp.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto affixed my signature.

RICHARD GREENLEAF TURNER. 

